Call of Duty veteran Patrick ‘ACHES’ Price expressed his concerns with the competitive integrity of the Call of Duty League on January 27 after examining the league schedule in the lead up to the London Ravens Home Series.
The anticipation for CDL’s inaugural season was mired in controversy on and off the stage. On-the-fly competitive rulings for games in progress and players citing untimely Modern Warfare patches took center stage throughout the weekend in Minnesota.
Regardless of the early bumps in the year-long road for the CDL, the weekend’s results are in the books as teams took with them their allotment of CDL points ahead of their Feb 8-9 trip to the United Kingdom.
But a since-deleted tweet from the CDL showed how the eight participating teams would break down into groups in London, another point of contention for ACHES that raises “massive” concerns for the league’s commitment to competitive integrity.
“Every team has now realized after reviewing the schedule that the Chicago Huntsmen and Atlanta Faze won’t ever be placed in the same group at any of the 8/12 tournaments they compete at,” he said in a series of tweets.
The league’s scheduling seems to prevent the two major orgs going up against each other early in events, something that ACHES suggests the league coordinated to build up anticipation.
“Kinda funny how these two teams are never in the same group as if the league want the two biggest brands making the basket,” he wrote, noting how every team except for Faze and the Huntsmen matchup up with each other at least once. “Maybe to ensure they have the best chance of making Sunday together for the best possible viewership?“
For a league that has continued to stress competitive integrity being paramount… This is another case that shows the opposite sadly…”
Dexerto reached out to the CDL for comment, but has yet to receive a response at the time of publication.
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I just want to see the League be strong on its values of competitive integrity and with that, succeed for many years to come. If that means pointing out massive flaws in the current system in order to get changes that create a healthier system long term. Then so be it.
— PATTYP (@ACHES) January 27, 2020
Orgs entering the league had to brand their teams around the cities they represent, but personnel changes and big name teams dominated the preseason buzz.
Atlanta Faze was instantly a home name for many with the world-wide brand bringing instant recognition only complimented by their insane lineup of young guns.
Meanwhile the Huntsmen, led by former OpTic Gaming head Hector ‘HECZ’ Rodriguez, inherited a ton of Greenwall fans after the off-season changing of the guard at OG, along with a new team starring OpTic alums Seth ‘Scump’ Abner and Matthew ‘FormaL’ Piper.
https://twitter.com/ACHES/status/1221916538220843008
During the first weekend, ACHES was critical of the league on and off the Armory’s stage in the aftermath of the Los Angeles Guerrillas and Minnesota RØKKR decision that eventually saw a potential 3-0 sweep for LA turn into a 3-1 win for the home team.
Now teams will be setting their sights for London for the next iteration of the Call of Duty League.
